A special all-party committee on electoral reform is recommending Canadians have the final say to determine if Canada's electoral system should be changed to proportional representation.

However, the Liberals, who promised to have a new voting system to replace the current first-past-the-post for the 2019 federal election, are calling the electoral reform committee 'radical' and 'hasty' after it recommended a referendum be held.

While Chatham-Kent-Leamington MP Dave Van Kesteren believes the results of survey his office conducted shows people overwhelmingly want a referendum if there is going to be a change to the electoral process.

Van Kesteren told The Chatham Daily News the survey was part of a “householder” sent in the mail.

“It was very non-partisan,” he said, adding, “I didn't show, by any means, what my preference was.”

Van Kesteren said it just stated what the Liberals were proposing to do with electoral reform that includes considering proportional, preferential and first-past-the-post options.

He said the 1,655 citizens who responded the survey – which is four times higher than the typical response received – showed 92 per cent of respondents want to have a referendum in order for any changes to the electoral process get approved.

He added fellow Conservative MPs sent out similar surveys with the same 90-plus per cent of respondents preferring a referendum be held.

“That tells me people are engaged and want to talk about it,” Van Kesteren said.

What concerns Van Kesteren is the fact an earlier national poll showed electoral reform was far down on the list of what Canadians are talking about. He believes, currently, the average Canadian is not well-versed on the issues surrounding electoral reform.

“If we're going to change it, let's talk about it,” he said.

Van Kesteren believes if there was a referendum and people learned more about the options “there's no question in my mind they would say, 'Why are you changing this? Leave it alone.'”

He said first-past-the-post worked well for the Liberals in the last election.

“It's not like it's a shoe-in for any party,” he added.

Van Kesteren said when a government loses power, it means then they have to re-examine what they are doing to become a better government.

By always competing for the vote, “you come up with fresh ideas, you come up with ideas that the populace wants.”